Genre of Music that is hardest to record

[skunkyfunk]

Mine would be:

1.  Acid Jazz (Incognito, Jamiroquai)  -  The number of layers are overwhelming.  The mixing is tedious.  My first encounter was mixing 104 tracks and around 30 of which were the percussions alone.
2.  Classical Music - The keyword here is NOISE.  If you have a noisy setup... good luck.  Because the movements of classical are so dynamic that whisper-volumes to loud transients should be flawless.
3.  World Music - Miking Ethnic instruments can be a tough job because you don't know what mic/preamp/compression settings work best.  I've tried miking a hegalong and we wanted to add a lot of body to the sound... and turned out that the best would be using a transducer. 
4.  HIP-HOP (YES, HIP-HOP) - No not the Andrew E or Salbakuta  type though.  It's about getting a REAL drumkit and tune it like a break beats patch. Listening to Outkast made me appreciate the genre a lot.  Not to mention rapping is not easy.  There are some articulations that should be very clear when you track them.  Not to mention you have N layers of vocals.  Mixing them is another problem. 
5.  Big Band Jazz - Layering is not a good idea for big band, so how to make a big band sound huge yet defined can be a problem. Bleed is probably your friend.  Too much of it becomes your enemy.


Personally I find metal easiest to record.  Just get a tight band and an aggressive vocalist.

[chuck sabbath]

im not a recording engineer so my opinion may not hold much water especially for someone who has strictly defined notions of what a "professional recording engineer" or "professional studio" is but i imagine any form of music can be as simple and as difficult as you want to make it...

any form of music can have as many or as little layers as you want

acid jazz can be as simple as a drumkit, bass, guitar, rhodes and a stereo percussion kit track, no rules saying you need 30 percussion tracks...

"world music" can involve weird instruments and such but once you find the best tools for the job then it becomes as simple/difficult as recording any other band

hiphop is traditionally sample based; if youre micing a real drumkit then its no different from tracking a "real" band

i would day the hardest music to record would be one that requires all the players to play at the same time; classical and jazz..cause of the bleed and phase issues and getting everyone to lay down a perfect take every time

[Perf_De_Castro]

The hardest genre to record is the one you're most unfamiliar with.

That's why there are specialized producers/engineers: one simply doesn't get Bob Rock to produce and record the New York Philhamornic's All-Debussy program.

This is also the same reason why David Frost and Jack Renner aren't producing and engineering respectively, Cradle of Filth's next CD.

[skunkyfunk]

The hardest genre to record is the one you're most unfamiliar with.

That's there are specialized producers/engineers: one simply doesn't get Bob Rock to produce and record the New York Philhamornic's All-Debussy program.

This is also the same reason why David Frost and Jack Renner aren't producing and engineering respectively, Cradle of Filth's next CD.

Which makes me think about Rick Rubin and Mutt Lange.  Very wide range of production skills.  Kung sa bagay, I don't think Bob Rock could have made a fine job as Malcolm McLaren for the Sex Pistols.

[chuck sabbath]

I don't think Bob Rock could have made a fine job as Malcolm McLaren for the Sex Pistols.

malcolm mclaren wasnt a producer/record engineer...he was more a publicity guy/manager

[x_taxi]

The hardest genre to record is the one you're most unfamiliar with.

That's there are specialized producers/engineers: one simply doesn't get Bob Rock to produce and record the New York Philhamornic's All-Debussy program.

This is also the same reason why David Frost and Jack Renner aren't producing and engineering respectively, Cradle of Filth's next CD.

... I don't think Bob Rock could have made a fine job as Malcolm McLaren for the Sex Pistols.

bob rock did change the sound of metallica in the black album.  parang biglang nagkaroon ng "bassist" ang metallica.  hehe.  in contrast to justice for all na doubled lang nung bass yun guitar, so di talaga pansin.  plus the songs in the black album were too polished, more radio-friendly.

 

[abyssinianson]

The hardest genre to record is the one you're most unfamiliar with.

That's there are specialized producers/engineers: one simply doesn't get Bob Rock to produce and record the New York Philhamornic's All-Debussy program.

This is also the same reason why David Frost and Jack Renner aren't producing and engineering respectively, Cradle of Filth's next CD.

Saw Cradle of Filth a month ago, great show. I agree with Perf that unless you know how to treat the music in a genre, you will have a hard time planning an approach to produce a well done, balanced mix.

[starfugger]

The hardest genre to record is the one you're most unfamiliar with.

That's there are specialized producers/engineers: one simply doesn't get Bob Rock to produce and record the New York Philhamornic's All-Debussy program.

This is also the same reason why David Frost and Jack Renner aren't producing and engineering respectively, Cradle of Filth's next CD.

amen. 

[Perf_De_Castro]

Which makes me think about Rick Rubin and Mutt Lange.  Very wide range of production skills.

I seem to have misplaced my Rick Rubin-produced Yo Yo Ma CD, does anyone else have a copy? 

[CYANIDE BOMB]

 
   Niel kernon for me covered also a lot of base in the recording field i mean he did spiral architect,nevermore,peter gabriel,daryl hall and john oates,kansas,dokken queensryche,judas priest,Deicide